FEEDBACK PSEUDOMORPHIC HEMT LOW NOISE AMPLIFIERS FOR LOW COST RECEIVERS

THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE COMBINATION OF NEW DEVICE TECHNOLOGY, DETAILED DEVICE MODELING, AND NEW CIRCUIT TECHNIQUES FOR SMALL, EARTH-TERMINAL, LOW-COST, KA-BAND RECEIVERS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH GAAA AND SILICON-BIPOLARMMICS ARE KEY TO COST IMPROVEMENT IN THESE SYSTEMS, BUT HYBRID SOLUTIONS FOR SELECTED COMPONENTS CAN STILL BE COST EFFECTIVE WHEN THERE IS A PERFORMANCE BENEFIT. THE MICROWAVE DEVICE AND RELATED ASSEMBLY COSTS ARE ONLY A PART OF THE TOTAL, WHICH INCLUDES SIGNIFICANT MECHANICAL COSTS AND THE COST OF AN INPUT ISOLATOR. IN THIS PROJECT, A COMBINATION OF DEVICE AND CIRCUIT DESIGN WILL FOCUS ON THE SIMPLIFICATION OF MICROWAVE HARDWARE TO RETAIN THE HIGH PERFORMANCE LEVELS REQUIRED OF A 20-GHZ, LOW-NOISE RECEIVER,WHILE ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR AN INPUT ISOLATOR NORMALLY USED TO PROVIDE INPUT IMPEDANCE MATCH. SPECIFICALLY, 0.1-MICRON-GATE-LENGTH, PSEUDOMORPHIC HEMTS, WHICH OFFER SUPERIOR NOISE AND GAIN PERFORMANCE, WILL BE USED IN FEEDBACK CIRCUIT DESIGNS THAT PROVIDE SIMULTANEOUS NOISE- AND SIGNAL-MATCH THROUGH FEEDBACK TECHNIQUES. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THE COMBINATION OF NEW DEVICE TECHNOLOGY, DETAILED DEVICE MODELING, AND NEW CIRCUIT TECHNIQUES FOR SMALL, EARTH-TERMINAL, LOW-COST, KA-BAND RECEIVERS. THE DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH GAAA AND SILICON-BIPOLARMMICS ARE KEY TO COST IMPROVEMENT IN THESE SYSTEMS, BUT HYBRID SOLUTIONS FOR SELECTED COMPONENTS CAN STILL BE COST EFFECTIVE WHEN THERE IS A PERFORMANCE BENEFIT. THE MICROWAVE DEVICE AND RELATED ASSEMBLY COSTS ARE ONLY A PART OF THE TOTAL, WHICH INCLUDES SIGNIFICANT MECHANICAL COSTS AND THE COST OF AN INPUT ISOLATOR. IN THIS PROJECT, A COMBINATION OF DEVICE AND CIRCUIT DESIGN WILL FOCUS ON THE SIMPLIFICATION OF MICROWAVE HARDWARE TO RETAIN THE HIGH PERFORMANCE LEVELS REQUIRED OF A 20-GHZ, LOW-NOISE RECEIVER,WHILE ELIMINATING THE NEED FOR AN INPUT ISOLATOR NORMALLY USED TO PROVIDE INPUT IMPEDANCE MATCH. SPECIFICALLY, 0.1-MICRON-GATE-LENGTH, PSEUDOMORPHIC HEMTS, WHICH OFFER SUPERIOR NOISE AND GAIN PERFORMANCE, WILL BE USED IN FEEDBACK CIRCUIT DESIGNS THAT PROVIDE SIMULTANEOUS NOISE- AND SIGNAL-MATCH THROUGH FEEDBACK TECHNIQUES.